Ohio District Administrators Communicate with Radio System

Centerville City schools have implemented a new radio system that will let them communicate more easily with each other and with local law enforcement.

By Jessica Davis

March 11, 2019

Centerville City schools have implemented a new radio system that will let them communicate more easily with each other and with local law enforcement.

There are 13 school buildings and two preschools in the Centerville district, and a new radio system allows school officials to communicate with each other with handheld radios.

"So if there is an emergency in one of our buildings, our staff can quickly access the radios, reach out and make a call," said Jon Wesney, director of business operations for the school district.

According to Wesney, the district has been working on buying new communication equipment and upgrading some existing radios all school year.

The district’s previous radio communication system would only allow communication within individual buildings, but now administrators are able to communicate across buildings.

Wesney said the new radio system helps with quick district-wide communication as well as school safety.

The radio communications will be constantly monitored by district administrators and employees from Centerville Police and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

"In addition to that, we've created an emergency channel through the system which allows us to communicate from building to building," Wesney said. "So if there was a situation taking place in a specific building in our district, we could give very clear, specific directions to all buildings of what was going on, how to respond and what they need to do to protect our students."

According to Wesney, the radio system would help in the parent-student reunification process in case of an emergency, because school employees would be able to listen to important updates as they come in.